WASHINGTON -- Tanner Roark, from the small town of Wilmington, Ill., was a 25th-round draft pick by the Texas Rangers out of the University of Illinois in 2008.

The right-handed pitcher had played independent league ball before he was drafted, but he never made the majors with the Rangers. He was traded to the Washington Nationals in 2010 and he lost 17 games at Triple-A Syracuse two years later.

Roark faced Texas for the second time Friday night and it wasn't pretty, as he gave up 11 hits and five runs (two earned) in six innings as the Rangers defeated the Nationals 5-2. The Washington pitcher was upstaged by Andrew Cashner, who gave up just one run in seven innings to get the win.

"He was battling," Washington manager Dusty Baker said of Roark. "But we didn't get much going on offense against Cashner."

To make matters worse, the Nationals made three errors, two by young shortstop Trea Turner.

"We didn't play very well on defense. We gave them a couple of runs," Baker said. "It wasn't a very good day at the ballpark."

Catcher Jonathan Lucroy had three hits and three RBIs for the Rangers.

"He has been swinging the bat well," said Texas manager Jeff Banister, who said Lucroy has been getting the barrel of the bat out front on offspeed pitches.

The third-place Rangers (28-32) improved to just 10-18 on the road and the first-place Nationals (38-22) are 17-10 at home.

Former San Diego pitcher Cashner (3-5), who gave up 11 hits and five runs in his last start, allowed six hits Friday with two walks and four strikeouts. Alex Claudio struck out two in the eighth inning and Matt Bush got the last two outs for his seventh save after Stephen Drew drove in a run when his popup fell between two outfielders in the ninth.

"He has been great all year," Bush said of Cashner. "He has been a huge pickup for us."

The Rangers loaded the bases in the sixth, but Roark (6-3) fanned Elvis Andrus for the second out. Roark then walked Nomar Mazara to force in a run and make it 4-0.

Washington got on the board in the sixth as Anthony Rendon had an RBI single with two outs to make it 4-1. But he was thrown out at second on a relay to end the inning.

Rougned Odor (two hits) lined a homer to right to start the seventh to make it 5-1 and chase Roark.

Mazara and Delino DeShields, a Maryland native, also had two hits for Texas.

The Nationals entered Friday with a team batting average of .274 and 89 homers -- both marks led the National League. Ryan Zimmerman, Matt Wieters and Daniel Murphy had two hits for Washington.

Roark and Cashner settled into a pitcher's duel as the game progressed quickly in the early innings on a crisp spring night.

The Rangers had three singles in a row to begin the third, with Lucroy delivering an RBI single to make it 1-0. His hit scored Andrus, who led off with an infield single and went to second on a base hit by Mazara.

Lucroy gave Texas a cushion with a two-run homer to left with two outs in the fifth off Roark. That made the score 3-0 as the Rangers scored two unearned runs in the inning, as Shin-Soo Choo reached on an error at first by Zimmerman to begin the inning.

Roark won 16 games last year but has struggled this season.

"He gave up a lot of hits but very few (earned) runs," Baker said of Roark.

NOTES: The Texas Rangers recalled INF/OF Jurickson Profar from Triple-A Round Rock on Friday and sent LHP Dario Alvarez to Round Rock. Profar will be in his second stint with Texas this season and was with the team from Opening Day to April 30. Alvarez was 2-0 with a 3.27 ERA in 14 games with the Rangers. Profar started at third base and was 0-for-5 ... Texas INF Adrian Beltre was not in the starting lineup and did not play. He hurt his foot in a game Tuesday and did not play Wednesday. The Rangers were off Thursday ... Rangers RHP and minor leaguer RHP Yerry Rodriguez was handed a 75-game suspension Friday by MLB for testing positive for Hydrochlorothiazide, a performance-enhancing substance. Rodriguez was on the roster of the rookie-level Dominican Summer League Rangers and the suspension begins immediately ... Washington LHP Gio Gonzalez (5-1, 3.03 ERA) will face Texas LHP Martin Perez (2-6, 4.64) on Saturday.